Mr.Preston Wood Delivers Speech on Peace Treaty in Korea

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Mr. Preston Wood of a peace movement organization, A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, L.A. chapter delivered speech on occasion of the Seventh Anniversary of the Declaration on the Advancement of South-North Korean Relations, Peace and Prosperity on Oct.4, 2014 at Minjok-Tongshin Book Concert. The text of his speech is introduced as the below.-Editor's note.

ANSWER CoalitionAct Now
to Stop War and End Racism

October
4, 2014

[Photo]Mr. Preston
Wood of A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition, Los Angles Division

ANSWER Coalition Statement in Solidarity on the Seventh Anniversary of
the Declaration on the Advancement of South-North Korean Relations, Peace and
Prosperity

The ANSWER
Coalition joins with all of you here and with the Korean people in the South,
the North and overseas, who are united in affirming once again the
historic June 15th North–South Joint Declarationin the year 2000 that
offered both the possibility and the promise of overcoming the tragic division
of theKorean peninsula and finding a path for peaceful
reunification. Also, we are hereto commemorate the
Seventh Anniversary of the Declaration on the Advancement of South-North Korean
Relations, Peace and Prosperity of October 4, 2007.

First of
all, we are happy to hear the news that the high level talks between the DPRK
and South Korea are set to resume. This shows that the spirit of the June
15th accord is still alive, and it calls on all of us to intensify the
struggle for reunification, justice and peace.

If we think
back to the June 15 summit, if we remember how that agreement was greeted by all
the Korean people, it would not be an overstatement to say that itresulted in a sense of
optimism and hopefulness, and even Euphoria. It
represents at its core the heartfelt desires of the Korean people
to overcome the
terrible division and to
bring the millions of families together again and to reunify Korea so that Korea
can be a strong powerful country and emblematic of justice and peace, rather
than division and war.

It’s
important to think about the fact that 14 years after the June 15 summit, and in
spite of the fact that it did represent the heartfelt aspirations of the
Koreanpeople, that the situation in Korean today remains
frozen, that division persists, that acrimony has intensified rather than
diminished, and that the threat of war remains as great as at any
time.

I
want to
explain how we in the ANSWER Coalition view this contradictory
phenomenon.

The problem
of division on the Korean peninsula does not, in its roots, emanate from Korea
itself, but rather it is the consequence of the policies of the government in
Washington, DC – many thousands of miles away from Korea. The problem is in
Washington, not Korea.

Throughout
history, we have seen hundreds, perhaps thousands of wars and conflicts. Wars
begin and eventually they come to an end. It is perhaps only in Korea that the
war that began on June 25, 1950, more than half a century ago, has continued
until this day. The armistice agreement signed on July 27, 1953,
has never been replaced by a peace treaty. The United States government refuses to sign a peace treaty, and so the war continues, at least in the technical sense, and
in a real sense, because the U.S. continues to threaten North Korea, engages in war exercises that
simulate the destruction of N. Korea, and imposes draconian economic sanctions
that are designed to destabilize and weaken North Korea.

The June15
summit agreement took place in the context of an apparent change in U.S.
strategy toward North Korea. It was the Clinton administration that seemed to be
opening the door to a normalization of relations with the DPRK. It was the
Clinton administration that sent Madeline Albright, then Secretary of state, to
hold high level meetings in the DRPK. Because the US government, the government
in Washington, was changing its policy of belligerence toward Korea, there was
an immediate opening for the resumption of
relations between North and South Korea.

When George
W. Bush took office on Jan 20, 2001, there was an immediate and abrupt about
face. It was clear that the then new US government wanted to shut down the
process of normalization, and in March 2001, when President Kim DaeJun visited Washington,
he was treated rudely and his policies were publically repudiated at the White
House. And then, George W. Bush declared that North Korea was part of an "axis
of evil", along with Iraq and Iran, and then he invaded Iraq, and then, as we
all know, North Korea resumed its nuclear weapons program, because it understood
that only a strong military would stop, or halt, Bush's planned aggression. And
that is what froze the situation in the Korean Peninsula. It was the policy of
the U.S government that
stopped the process. We can see this clearly from the historical
record.

And so, as
we gather here tonight, remembering and honoring the
June 15Summit, as well as the Declaration of the Advancement of South-North
Korean Relations, Peace and Prosperity, of October 4, 2007, we are recognizing
the desire of the Korean people for peaceful reunification. All of us here must
embrace our responsibility to say loudly and clearly to the US government, that
the Korean War must finally come to an end, and that the threats and sanctions
must stop, and the attempt to isolate the DPRK must end.
If the economic sanctions are lifted, if a peace treaty is signed, then, at that
time, all of the basic conditions for a peaceful reunification will have been
established.

Recognizing
this reality, we in the ANSWER Coaltion, as one sector in the
U.S. population, have been, and remain today dedicated to change U.S. policy.
The problem, as I said earlier, is not in Pyang Yang, nor is it in
Seoul, but right here in the United States, in Washington DC.

From all of
us at the ANSWER Coalition, thank you very much for extending this invitation to
us, and let’s move forward together to begin a nationwide campaign to educate
and mobilize the people of the US to end the war against Korea once and for
all.